He had been a fugitive for decades. Co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel. The United States had offered a reward of 15 million dollars for his capture. According to the media, he was also arrested Joaquin Guzman Lopezson of El Chapo Guzmán.
Ismael “Mayo” Zambadaco-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, was captured yesterday in the United States. He is one of the most notorious Mexican drug traffickers who has managed to evade justice for decades. Before his arrest in El Paso, Texas, the 76-year-old had never been incarcerated. Despite his attempts to maintain a low profile, the crafty kingpin was a major target of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). American authorities had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his capture, accusing him of trafficking cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl. The reward was even higher than the $10 million offered for Nemesio ‘El Mencho’ Osegueraleader of the rival cartel Jalisco New Generation.
Zambada he was arrested along with Joaquin Guzman Lopezson of the founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmanwho is serving a life sentence in the United States. Unlike Zambada“El Chapo” was arrested three times before being extradited to the United States. According to U.S. authorities, Zambadaborn in Culiacan, the capital of the state of Sinaloa, was the long-time leader of a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. “He is unique in that he has spent his entire adult life as a major international drug trafficker, yet has never spent a day in prison,” the U.S. State Department said in 2021, noting that after the arrest and extradition of “El Chapo”, Zambada he became the undisputed leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Its strong relationships with Colombian cocaine suppliers and its bases in the United States have made it Zambada one of the most influential drug traffickers in the world. He was one of the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel since the 1970s, whose main source of income was the sale of drugs in the United States, according to a U.S. Department of Justice report. Zambada He was a pragmatic, old-school leader in an era of younger bosses known for their lavish lifestyles, featuring club nights and brutal tactics such as beheadings, dismemberments and even skinning rivals. Although Zambada fought his opponents, he was known to focus on the business side of the drug trade and avoid the extreme violence of the cartels, which would have attracted more attention. What is the net worth of Mayo Zambada? In 2018 Bloombergthrough its billionaires index, revealed that Zambada has managed to build a net worth of three billion dollars. The media cited indicated that Ismael Zambada received at least 5% of the Sinaloa Cartel’s revenue from 2001 to 2018, the year the analysis was published.
“El Mayo” and Guzman Lopez join a growing list of Sinaloa Cartel leaders and members the U.S. Department of Justice is holding accountable. They include the cartel’s other co-founder, Joaquin Guzman Loeraknown as “El Chapo”; another son of “El Chapo” and alleged leader of the cartel, Ovid Guzman Lopez; and the cartel’s alleged top hitman, Nestor Isidro Perez Salasknown as “El Nini’”, reads part of the statement by the Attorney General Merrick Garland. “Fentanyl represents the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced, and the Department of Justice will not rest until every leader, member, and associate of the cartel responsible for poisoning our communities is held accountable.”
